Unexplored Frontiers
by Elven Lady1
Summary: A rapist is striking rapidly, and it is up to Frank and Joe to decipher the strange trails he leaves.


"Goodbye, Joe," Iola Morton sighed as she buried her face into Joseph Hardy's shoulder, trying her level best not to dissolve into tears. She was leaving for New York, and Joe had come to see her off at the airport. Maybe it was bad, in a strange sort of way. She was definitely going to miss the guy whose arms she was in at the moment. Tall, at six feet with sun-bleached blond hair, and sparkling blue eyes, Joe attracted a lot of attention from women, especially from the teenage female population in Bayport. But Iola had been the lucky one. Joe had known she was the girl for him the day she had turned Joe down at a party for her homecoming from England where she had been studying. She had slapped Joe and stormed away when he had tried to impress her, by smiling several times, then asking her to dance. This had been when they were fifteen. For the next year, Joe had tormented her at school, by hiding her books, and doing all the maddest things he possibly could to attract her attention. The spark finally flared when Joe, driving Iola home, had lost control of the car, almost killing them. His moment of unconsciousness had touched the girl. From that day on, the two dated firmly (Joe breaking a lot of other hearts because of this). 

As Joe hugged Iola one last time, he was trying his best not to screw up his face and howl. When Iola had told him about her scholarship to New York University, NYU, he had instantly told her to go. It would be easier on her parents, who were having money problems with their forty-year old farm, Homestead. He would miss her. But thanks to modern day telecommunications, he could access her easily by just picking up the telephone. 

"Well, I guess I'll see soon," he muttered, releasing her. "I'll tell your parents and Chet you left safely." There was a faint grin on his mouth as he said this. "Get it? You left safely – normally people say you reached safely." Iola rolled her eyes and kissed him gently on the cheek. 

"I'll write." 

"Don't bother. If I write back, you'll need a specialist to read it out to you." 

"You can always e-mail." 

"What if the computer breaks down?" 

"Then you can SMS." 

"You sold your cellphone last week." 

"I bought a new one on Monday. You chose it if I recall correctly." 

"Whatever." 

They hugged once more before she turned and disappeared into the waiting lounge. 

*

Frank Hardy watched his brother during dinner. He seemed rather subdued, not his usual exuberant self. But then again, his girlfriend had left for New York. He probably wouldn't be seeing her for the next six months at least. Joe also seemed very twitchy. He kept glancing at his watch. At nine o'clock sharp, the telephone rang. Joe rocketed out of his chair eagerly. 

"Hello? Yeah Iola. You reached safely? Okay, I won't bother you. Bye, love you. Bye. Yep, love you too. Aha. Right. Yeah, for the fiftieth time, love you." 

And so this endless banter went on. Frank grew bored listening to Joe. When Joe finally cradled the receiver, Frank prodded him in the ribs and nodded him to the sitting room. 

"There's been another rape. In New York. This time a 19 year old prodigy. Stella Jacobs or something." 

Joe looked at Frank thoughtfully. "Do the police have any goddamn clues?" 

Frank sighed. "No. Collig telephoned and said searches were zilch. All they know is that he drugged the girl before raping her." 

"But didn't she recognise him?" 

"No. Only his voice seemed familiar to her." 

"Do they know the name of the drug and how it was administered?" asked Joe fiddling with the ashtray his mother kept for decoration. 

"No, to answer the first part, and yes, it was in some coffee she drank." 

Joe yawned very obviously. "I'm going to bed. See you in the morning. That drive to the airport really washed me out." 

"So what's new?" teased Frank. "Anyway, who's in the bedroom this time?" 

"Huh?" 

"You said you were going 'to bed'." 

Rolling his eyes, Joe tossed his cushion at Frank and disappeared up stairs. Moments later however, he stuck his head through the door and answered gravely, "Sleepy head." 

Frank grinned." Okay, I know that rhyme." 

"To bed, to bed, said sleepy head…" chanted Joe. 

"Really Joe, you ought to go back to kindergarten if you behave like this," said a new voice. 

"Mom!" Both boys embraced their mother, Laura Hardy. 

"Any complaints about Frank today, Joey?" she teased. 

Frank put on a suffering look. "It's the other way 'round, Mom. He sneaked up on Callie and me again this evening. Scared the wits out of her." 

"What were you doing that made Joe so curious?" 

Joe guffawed loudly before he thumped up the stairs and disappeared into his bedroom, which still looked as though a cyclone had run through it. 

*

When Iola got off the plane in New York, the first thing she did was to call Joe. After gossiping with him for ten minutes, she promised to call the next day when she had settled down. Her cousins, Uma and Ashley were supposed to meet her. 

After half an hour, she got annoyed and started pacing. It was late in the night, and they still hadn't come. 

Finally, nearly fifteen minutes later, a young man introduced himself. 

"Hi, you must be Iola. Uma and Ashley sent me 'cause they had extra classes tonight." 

Iola frantically looked for the guy's credentials. She noted with relief that he was wearing an NYU sweatshirt. Obviously noting this flick of her eyes, he asked, 

"Don't trust me huh? Well, I don't blame you. I heard your boyfriend is a maniac. From what Uma's told me, it seems he's very abusive. By the way, I'm Jeffery Anderson, but you could call me Jeff." 

Iola almost knocked over her suitcase in her anger. 

"He's NOT a maniac. He's a perfectly normal guy. It's Uma who's slightly demented." 

Jeff shrugged, then picked up the suitcase and motioned for her to follow him. Iola, though grateful for this, yanked the bag back and proceeded after him. If he insulted Joe, she didn't like him. He was okay, but his vivid description of Joe had angered her. 

When they arrived at the lobby, it was only minutes before everything was settled. Unfortunately, she had both Ashley and Uma in her dormitory (number 14), with the latter as a sort of 'lord' of the room with ten girls in it. 

"Karen," the receptionist called to a tall slim girl with ringlets cascading down her back. "This is Iola Morton. She's in your dormitory. Please settle her in." Turning to Iola she added," I'll have James bring your things up." 

The first thing Karen said was, "Wow! Finally I get to meet someone my height!" 

Iola laughed. At a whopping five-eleven, she often towered over many girls. But here was a girl atleast two inches taller than she was. 

"You must be six one?" 

Karen grinned. "I am. I'm Karen Litton. And you must be Uma's cousin right?" 

"Yeah. So what impression has she given you of me?" asked Iola, cringing at the thought. 

"Actually, she says you are… I mean, you were okay until you met your latest boyfriend." 

They entered the dormitory. It looked very comfortable to Iola. 

"What exactly does she mean by my "latest" boyfriend? He's only the second one, and I've been dating him for the past two years." 

"Whoa! Then he must be a nice guy." 

"Huh?" 

"I mean, you're so nice, so obviously you must have a very nice boyfriend. What's his name?" 

"Joe… Joe Hardy. And I'm also assuming that my excellently wonderful cousin has told you he's a wimp?" asked Iola as she dumped her bag onto the bed. 

"Actually yeah." 

"Well, she met him last December when he was very ill. He and his brother are sort of detectives, and he'd just returned from a case- he was caught in a bomb blast, and he really did look pathetic because he broke his arm, and sprained his leg very badly, so he had to wear two casts. The funny thing was everybody in Bayport wanted to sign his cast – especially the girls, if you know what I mean." 

Karen laughed. "So how's Callie?" 

"You know Callie?" asked Iola. 

"Yeah actually, she's my cousin." 

"Whoa, then you must be knowing Joe and Frank." 

"Only through pictures. And let me tell you something, take everything Uma says with a pinch of salt. Joe is _very_ hot. C'mon, I'll show you the grounds." 

"Um, but it's around ten o'clock," said Iola cautiously. 

"Yeah, I know, but there are some classes which go on 'til around twelve, so there are quite a few people around – actually they're mainly the boarders. All the girls in our dorm have late classes," replied Karen with an amused smile. 

The tour around campus turned out to be very informative and amusing, for Karen kept up a very lively chatter. 

When they returned to the dorm, most of the other boarders had returned, and so had her suitcase. She had already taken a liking to Karen, and listened enthusiastically as the girl spoke, for her command of the language was excellent. In a way, she reminded Iola of Joe, who liked to put at least one pun in each of his sentences. It was a wonder Frank was so even keeled. If it had been her, she would have seriously considered slapping him. In one particular case, where Frank had Joe had been trapped in a blazing fire, along with her elder brother Chet, Joe had been making wisecracks throughout until Biff Hooper, another friend had barged in and saved the day. But then again, that was what made him so special…and cute. 

When Iola woke the nest morning, Uma and Ashley had already returned. As it was a Saturday, most boarders didn't have classes, so there were quite a few who were still snoring at the late hour of ten a.m. 

"Good morning," called Karen from her bed. 

Iola grunted and turned over. 

"Your boyfriend just called," said Karen. Iola shot up and practically yanked the phone off its cord. 

Joe was laughing heartily when the receptionist connected them. "I guess you're still sleeping. I woke up at six." 

"That's a start," Iola yawned. "Joe, it's only ten thirty! Couldn't you have called later?" 

"Are you nuts? For the first time in my life I wake up early and…" 

"I get the point," she interrupted. "Why'd you call?" 

"To warn you. There was a rape in New York, and Chief Collig called this morning to say the girl died thanks to some drug which was injected. They still can't figure out the name of the drug and where it was injected. The girl's name was Stella something. Can't remember," Joe said quietly. 

"If you had slept a little later, you would've remembered her name," Iola couldn't help saying. 

There was a pause. "Look, I'm not joking. I'm serious. I don't want anything to happen to you." 

"For Christ's sake! I'm a black belt. I can handle it." Iola was now aware that everyone was looking at her. 

"Yeah well, just be careful, and anyway, when do your classes start?" asked Joe. 

"Next week, Tuesday." 

"Okay, can you do me a favour? Look up Stella's name in the Yellow Pages, and visit her family, and try to get some information. Oh wait, hang on, her name's Stella Jacobs. She was studying in the New York Academy of Ballet as a dancer, so, as you study ballet too, you could just go there out of pure interest and you know, ask questions." 

"Okay, well, everyone's looking at me, so bye." 

"Bye." 

*

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